December 2014

Perfectionism has become an undervalued trait and is considered, these days, to be a character flaw. I think that that's a shame as perfectionism, if it doesn't turn into compulsion, is nothing more than a search for excellence and what's wrong with that?

I'm a perfectionist, which you might have guessed, and I'm not ashamed of being that way. In fact, I'm proud of the fact that I strive to rise above the mediocre and the acceptable. I'm one of those people who believes that if you do something for a living, you should be great at it, not merely good at it.

I don't know anyone who doesn't get stressed out during the holiday season. Do you?

Some of the causes of our stress at this time of year are as follows: all the gift-buying that we need to do, all the money that we will be spending, all the parties to which we get invited, all the holiday cards or e-mails that we have to send, all the things that we have to remember to do, etc.

Everyone I know either has a cold, has just gotten over a cold, or is on his way to catching a cold.

I don't have all the answers as to how to cope with holiday stress as I, too, experience it, however, I can offer some suggestions.